The letter carrier was delivering mail in the San Jacinto County community of Coldspring on Friday when authorities said a man shot her, drove off in her work vehicle, doused the SUV with lighter fluid and set it on fire while she remained inside.

James Wayne Ham has been charged with murder of a federal employee engaged in official duties.

Ham had accused Youngblood of tampering with his mail, believing she had rerouted his deliveries to his estranged wife, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Houston federal court.

With a rifle, extra ammunition and lighter fluid, he hid in a treeline like a sniper to wait for the letter carrier to make her delivery.

As she pulled away in her Jeep Cherokee, he shot her several times.

Ham then commandeered the vehicle to a nearby community water pumping station where he set it ablaze. Afterward, he went home, hid the rifle and burned his boots.

Youngblood, 52, lived in Shepherd.

As flames lapped at the vehicle, fueled by the accelerant, the postal worker's son was speaking to a San Jacinto County emergency dispatcher.

Phone call cut short

According to the complaint, Mark Youngblood told authorities he was talking to his mother when loud noises resembling "pow, pow" or "bang, bang" rang out.

"After asking his mother what had happened, she told him she thought she had been shot," the complaint said. "The son began shouting into the telephone trying to communicate with his mother when he heard an unintelligible male's voice."

Then the son heard his mother beg for her life: "Please don't kill me, please don't kill me."

He hung up and was unable to reconnect. That's when he called 911.

Authorities responded to the Holiday Shores No. 4 subdivision, where Ham resided and Youngblood would have been delivering around noon, and found a right-hand steer vehicle commonly used on rural postal routes engulfed in flames.

Fire and rescue crews were summoned. An initial examination revealed human remains in the passenger seat that were not immediately identifiable and "several apparent bullet holes in the vehicle," the complaint said.

An early investigation by the San Jacinto County Fire Marshal revealed "high concentrations of hydrocarbons in the passenger side front and rear floor." Authorities also found two areas with broken glass on Ham's street.

Found in vacant house

Coldspring Postmaster Carolyn McCurry, Marie Youngblood's supervisor, said she was familiar with Ham because he is the estranged husband of another rural letter carrier, the complaint said. The couple had separated and were in the process of a divorce, the postmaster told authorities.

McCurry said she received a complaint from Ham on April 29 about his belief that Youngblood was sending his mail to his wife.

The postmaster said she spoke with Youngblood, but didn't believe the allegation.

On Sunday, San Jacinto County Sheriff's Office officials found Ham hiding in a vacant Holiday Shores home near his residence.

During an interview with a Texas Ranger, Ham "admitted he was having problems with his mail delivery" and blamed Youngblood, the complaint said. "He stated he decided to kill her and then wanted to kill his estranged wife."